The original planning of the Eco Prefab 1 - Macarthur Gardens Visitors Centre.

Sustainable House: Southern Highlands

Sustainable House: Southern Highlands

Sustainable House: Southern Highlands

Sustainable House: Southern Highlands

Site

Sustainable House: Southern Highlands

Elevations

Sustainable House: Southern Highlands

Elevations

Sustainable House: Southern Highlands

Sustainable House: Southern Highlands

Eco Prefab 1 project at Macarthur Gardens during construction.

Sustainable House: Southern Highlands

Eco Prefab 1 project at Macarthur Gardens.

Sustainable House: Southern Highlands

When complete, this home in the Southern Highlands of NSW for two environmental scientists will be one of the greenest and most sustainable homes in Australia.-Our Eco Prefab 1 project at Macarthur Gardens is being re-imagined as an off the grid house in the Southern Highlands. The precast concrete elements have been dismantled, the doors, windows and structural steel beams salvaged and moved to the new site ready for re-assembly.

Originally designed as a commercial gallery space, the relationship between the two pavilions has been adjusted in response to site conditions whilst also creating a sheltered courtyard and large storage / wet area / circulation zone that spans between them. The internal organisation has been adjusted to convert gallery to home and to accommodate the needs of a young family.

A lightweight external skin of charred cedar (a Japanese technique called Shou-sugi-ban ) creates a cavity for insulation and means the exquisite off-form precast concrete can be enjoyed as the finished internal surfaces of floor, wall and ceiling throughout whilst utilising the comfort and sustainable benefits of high thermal mass where you need it - internally.

60,000 litre water storage, 4KW photovoltaic (PV), wind turbine and composting toilets allow the project to function off the grid.